No One's Angel
by HDSweet Saren
Summary: Garrus is captured by Aria T'loak and the few thugs she has left. After the Reaper War, the relays have been destroyed and Aria finds herself stuck on the Citadel. Since Shepard is out of her reach, she goes after Garrus. What she has in store for him is a fate worse than death... Or is it?
1. Chapter 1

**No One's Angel** by Tuffy212

**Author's note**: All rights reserved to Bioware Corp. I do not own any of the rights to the Mass Effect Trilogy. I wrote this to test my writing skills so bring on the reviews!

Garrus is captured by Aria T'loak and the few thugs she has left. After the Reaper War, the relays have been destroyed and Aria finds herself stuck on the Citidel. Since Shepard is out of her reach, she goes after Garrus. What she has in store for him is a fate worse than death... Or is it?

* * *

Heavy eyelids lifted slowly. A fuzziness greeted the turian rebel's eyes. There were several silhouettes that filled a dimly lit room. Some maniacal chuckles cut the silent atmosphere that poured into Garrus's avian ears. His heart was pounding heavily with equally heavy breaths. As he motioned; his body began to tell stories of trauma. Feeling a wet sensation that ran from the side of his head; a blow that required immense strength to make him bleed this bad, Garrus could practically taste the blood because the smell was so intense.

His eyes still waged war with its surroundings, trying to bring them into focus. The turian rebel began to squirm, that was when he realized that his arms were bound. His head motioned up as best as it could, enough to make out that his arms were tied to a beam that was secured to the wall. Pain radiated from the wound on Garrus's head. He moaned as he began to struggle some more. The room was still fuzzy.

"Save your strength, Archangel." A familiar voice saturated in bitchiness and cockiness filled the room as the woman spoke. "You're gonna need it!"

Garrus could make out a grin under her conniving words. He gritted this pointed teeth with rage; mandibles clamped tightly against his rugged frame.

"I bet you're probably wondering how you got here…" The familiar voice continued? "Doesn't matter… What matters is my number one rule…"

Garrus already knew what she was going to say.

_DON'T FUCK WITH ARIA_! The words were like a bad joke. Garrus still breathed heavily. His legs struggled only to give to the chains that secured them. Several male voices chimed in with bouts of laughter.

Garrus's senses were now coming into full. He could feel sharp pains on his ribs, chest, face, and head. The pains that beat on his chest like a gorilla made it harder for him to breathe.

"That Reaper threat was… a pain to say the least." Aria, the former ruler, CEO, Queen-if you're feeling dramatic hissed. "But what Shepard did with my Omega was unforgivable!" Her words came out as more of a growl.

After the initial attack of the Reapers, hyper advance machines programmed to systematically wipe out all civilization that had reached the pinnacle of its development; Shepard was able to use the Crucible to send the Reapers back into dark space. Unfortunately the Relays were overloaded in the process, trapping ninety-seven percent of the alien races in the Sol System. The frustration of millions could've outweighed the stars in the universe.

Aria being stuck on the Citadel—the key to the Crucible, which then moved to the Sol System, meant that _Queen_ Aria had lost her throne on Omega (possibly forever). Shepard and her crew were no longer heroes of the galaxy. They were now considered gods! But not in Aria T'loak's eyes. In the blink of an eye, she had lost everything. The only power she commanded now was the few dozen loyal guards she had, and the asari stripper she paid to lore the turian rebel into his current predicament.

She wanted revenge and with her few contacts she was able to devise a plan that would hurt Shepard far worse than any pain the galaxy had thrown at her. Aria, not having a heart, went straight for Shepard's.

Garrus wanted to slap himself for letting his guard down. Just because the Reapers had been defeated did not mean that there would be peace. Civilization still had a long ways to go. He struggled even more, despite the searing pains that ran all over his body. The few batarian, turian, and human, guards did a number on him.

"I gave Shepard control of my people with the intentions of taking back omega, not destroying the relays completely."

"Shep-Shepard saved your life. She saved everybody's life! She's… a damn hero, you bitch." Garrus uttered through his weary sub vocals and heavy breaths.

Aria T'loak sneered. She inched closer, allowing the faint mist of illumination to rest on her body. Once in the light, Garrus could see the thin violet body standing on warn cockiness. She looked tired, but it could have easily been mistaken for rage, which was what she was feeling at that exact moment.

"Shepard was a pawn who was supposed to do my bidding, nothing more! I commend her for getting rid of those pesky Reapers, but the fact still remains… She lost my Omega."

"Fuck Omega!" Garrus barked. "You're bitch'n about one world when hundreds were lost… There are bigger things to worry about than that dump-"

Aria cut him off. "That _dump_ was my throne, my stage of glory… Shepard and I had a deal, she broke it, so now I break you." Aria then motioned to a figure that stood off in the darkness.

The being was short, barely five-foot. It wore a long robe with a hood masking its entire appearance. Once the figure stepped into the dim light, it removed its hood to reveal a female. She looked mostly human but her eyes were as red as the renegade indoctrination of the Reapers.

Garrus struggled harder in the small bed that he was tied down in. He spat curses at Aria and her pathetic crew of gangsters. It didn't matter what he said because he knew that this was the end. Though, he was not afraid, he was pissed off. Pissed off which morphed to sadness because he and Shepard had been through more than what words could describe. They had chased Saren Arterius through the galaxy, fought endless hordes of collectors, even blowing up a collector base. They battled the terrorist group called Cerberus and ultimately defeating their leader, the Illusive Man.

The journey had been long, ruthless, endless… So many nights Garrus Vakarian had stayed up, calibrating weapon's systems, cleaning engines; doing whatever he could to ensure that the most advanced ship in the galaxy was ready… Ready to face the Reapers. Time seemed to be a blur back then. Even with all the madness, aiding Shepard on hundreds of battles; somehow he had found time to love.

Mordin Solus, the salarian doctor slash mercenary had warned the crew about overworking themselves and the importance of relieving stress. It was his constant nagging that _encouraged_ Garrus to come out of his shell completely.

After Garrus witnessed Shepard get spaced—then two years later she returned; he was determined to do even more than what was turianly possible to ensure that she did not fail again. What happened to his commander was not his fault but blaming himself… That internal torture did something for him that he could not put into words. It kept him alert even more so now that he had gotten his Shepard back.

Although she was not his just yet; they became joined, as Javik (the last surviving prothean) put it, until much later. Shepard and Garrus had always been close, even with Lt. Kaiden Alanko. He had tried to make a move on her, but Shepard was in a place where love could not penetrate. Then she made the decision to leave him on Virmire where a nuclear explosion replaced any memory of the marine. His death drew Garrus and Commander Shepard closer.

Since she had been taking him on all of her missions; it showed how much she trusted him, how much she needed him. When there was free time, they spent it sparring. Garrus had reach, but she had flexibility. It was there in the sparing room were Shepard and Garrus shared their first kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello my fellow ME fans and everyone else, like I said this is my first fanfic and I'm just throwing myself to the wolves for critique. I want to thank everyone who's stopped by. Reading back, I noticed there was some jumping around with the story line: I. E. Alanko and Shepard getting spaced... This is not following the exact story line so enjoy. **Also I am using curse words and other adult themes, I assume we're all adults reading this. Enjoy!**

Shepard sat on her stomach while panning through the messages on her omni tool. She was in her quarters relaxing on the queen sized bed. Her lips curved into a devilish smile as she relived the memory of her and Garrus, intimately bound by one another on the sparring mat.

* * *

Two

His rough talons toyed with her cherry red dreadlocks as she traced a finger along his blemished mandible. Thinking back, she had to admit she didn't even know how they had ended up that way. One minute Garrus was firing three to five fit hit combos, simultaneously. Shepard was blocking and dodging everything he threw at her.

* * *

A hypnotic rhythm that invoked both Hip Hop and Techno vibrated through their bodies, causing them to pop and lock their limbs instinctively. A dance-fight to the fullest and with most everyone on shore leave; they had the space all to themselves.

Sweat chased the ripples of Shepard's tone body with each move, fluid like a stream of water. Her bright green eyes smiled at the blue avian orbs that traced her form.

"What's wrong Vakarian, getting tired?" she jived.

His attention shifted from her muscular thighs to the piercing confidence in her eyesight. "Tired, hmf… I'm just get'n wormed up, Shepard!" His mandibles gapped as his heart raced, skipping beats only when his eyes peered down at her thighs.

Garrus threw much combos at an even faster pace, searching for an opening. Finally, Shepard gave him one. He went in grazing her ribs with his gloved fist before she whirled around his long jagged arm. Clocking his scarred mandible with her fist, Garrus stumbled backwards.

Shepard froze. "Oh, Garrus, I'm sorry, did I…"

Garrus felt along the cybernetics, wincing at the pain.

Shepard moved in closer. "Here, let me see." Breathing heavily she attempted to remove his hand. Garrus tensed up taking a small step back. "Hold still."

She placed one hand on his forearm and another on the edge of the damaged mandible. Next thing she knew she was on her back with both of her arms pinned to the mat. Garrus hovered over her with a predatory lust in his eyes. Shepard blinked with shock.

A low possessive rumble escaped his throat before speaking. "You know I'm one of the top ranked hand-to-hand specialist on the ship!" His breath was hot against her bronze skin, and his body was full of yearning.

Shepard replied between breaths, "Damn… your reach, Garrus!"

Eyeing her strong form over, he took in her musty—intoxicating scent before speaking, "Do you give?"

Shepard inched her moist body closer to Garrus' face. She was so close she could taste his scent; metallic-stone, or water that was fresh from the stream mixed with pine. So feral was his scent that it was beautifully delicious.

"Never!" she replied softly with a determined edge piercing the intimate space between them.

Silence blanketed their bodies like a stasis field. They stared back at each other with Garrus instinctively closing the distance. Shepard's body was tense, but it soon fell under Garrus' spell, relaxing has his face neared hers. Her breath was still heavy but her features morphed from exhilarated and focused to calm and longing.

As her head rested back on the mat, Garrus' mouth plates met her lips. Kissing is not a common practice among turians but Garrus seen enough vids on human culture to emulate the gesture. Shepard seemed apprehensive at first, not moving her lusciously full lips. His grip on her wrists allowed her to snake her hand behind his fringe, not knowing that that was a sexual gesture in turian culture.

Another rumble ran through Garrus' body like whispering thunder. Shepard opened her mouth to receive a long prehensile tongue with a rough—wet texture. She moaned as Garrus' tongue plunged into her mouth. Shepard continued to rub one of Garrus' sweet spots while the other held on to his back. Garrus found his hands running along her thighs and toned stomach. Each touch sent electricity through her body. She began to push up on him. Instinctively he eased up, eventually rolling over with her on top. Once she was on top of him she broke the kiss, straddling his lower half with her thighs.

"Well Garrus, I have to admit," she purred while rolling her hips with heavy breaths escaping her lungs, "You have impressive reach… But now it's time to test my _flexibility_!"

With that Shepard attacked his mouth with her lips. Garrus was able to let one growl escape his mouth before she ravaged it. Biting, licking, and sucking all over his lip-plates; then she moved slowly down his neck. Garrus arched slightly as his mandibles flared with approval. Every nibble was traced by Commander Shepard's tongue.

Garrus felt the blood rushing from his head as Shepard ran her gloved fingers up his clothed body. With the sudden realization that making out was more fun with less on; Shepard abandoned his form to remove herself of the pesky barriers. Garrus eyed her for a moment before doing the same. Tossing his gloves aside, he couldn't help but ravage her tone stomach as she slipped off her formfitting shirt.

"Uh!" the sound ran from her mouth as the sudden feeling of rough mouth plates and hot wetness landed on her abs.

Garrus laid her back down quickly but gently. Loosing himself in the moment, his talons had already started pulling off her shorts. With a pile of clothes littering the ground that was near them; Garrus stayed on top of her, owning her mouth with his. Shepard kept one hand on the back of his head, massaging the flesh expertly.

Periodically, Shepard would moan loudly with approval. Garrus suddenly broke the kiss leaving his neck exposed. He couldn't believe that this was really happening. What did Shepard see in him, honestly? Failed C-Sec officer… Vigilante? He was a bad turian with one side of his face looking like it had gone through a meat grinder.

As his mind began to drown in his own insecurities Shepard took control. She bit his exposed neck; harder than she would've bit a human man. Garrus hissed with pleasure falling in to her. Shepard wrapped her arms firmly around him, sucking his neck like candy. Garrus couldn't take much more, his growing member pressed against her thigh.

Shepard released his neck, breathing heavily with sweat-glistened skin. "Garrus, I want you to take me like you would a turian woman." Her words were delivered on the wings of a whisper.

Garrus turned her on her stomach. A primitive growl erupted from his chest as he did so. He slid a lonely talon down the curve of her back, meeting the spaghetti-strap of her cobalt blue underwear.

His claw lingered there for a moment while he took in the sight. "Your… Under-garments are the same color as my armor… Coincidence?"

A devilish grin was painted across her rugged face. She looked back at him saying, "It might be… Then again, it might not…!"

Before she could turn her head back around, Garrus sliced the thin strap. The underwear fell to the floor like a dead leaf. Then he grasped her supportive hips, pulling them closer to his erection. Shepard moaned as she felt his shaft pressing on her wet folds. Another slow animalistic growl rolled through Garrus' chest like clouds of thunder. He pressed himself into her hot wet opening. She was graciously inviting as her body opened up to accommodate his girth.

Garrus was going as slow as he could stand, but his composure was lessening with every breath-taking second. He jerked into her. Shepard let out a whimper. Her muscles tensed for a moment, silently permitting him to continue. He plunge himself deeper into her. She let out another whimper before he pulled himself out. He repeated the process until they had a rhythm that emulated the Techno Hip-Hop beat radiating through Shepard's omni tool speakers. Garrus continued to pound into her feeling her knees and her arms weaken under his weight. Suddenly Shepard gave under body, falling to the ground. Garrus fell with her, never losing his pace.

Shepard was beyond sound effects. The pleasure drove her mind to a place of beautiful silence. Only the fluxuations in her back and arm muscles guided his motions. Garrus's eyes swept the back of her neck and shoulders in search of a place to mark. He settled on a spot just under her scapula. Garrus sank his teeth into her brown skin, drawing thin tears of blood. Shepard arched her spine forward. Every muscle in her body tensed as she climaxed with fury. Garrus felt his own release explode into her body like a raging river. A growl similar to a lion's or a tiger's escaped his mouth.

"Uh… Garrus…!" she managed to uttered as her small body writhed in waves of pleasure underneath him.

Garrus collapsed on top of her, drained of energy. Once his senses returned to him he rolled off of his mate on to his back with one hand across his toned stomach. His mandibles sat closely to his face with pride. Shepard rolled over, meeting his chest with her head and arm.

"Mmmm, I didn't… _hurt_ you did I?" Garrus sincerely expressed. He had been holding back since this was their first time having sex. He knew she was tough; after all, she was his commanding officer. Garrus had seen her fight Thresher Maws for spirits' sake. Yet, feeling her seemingly frail body in his arms made him ease up.

Shepard traced a thumb as faintly as she could, exhausted by their love-making. "You did…!" Garrus' eyes widened with fright and embarrassment. The realization that he injured his superior was like a massive boulder falling on his chest.

He went to sit up but Shepard placed her hand firmly on his chest plates. His heart thudded in her palm. "But I liked it!"

Garrus looked down at her face, meeting her intensely green eyes that were slightly obstructed by flaming red dreadlocks. She reached up, touching his scarred mandible with her fingertips. With predatory speed, Garrus began to ravage those lusciously pink lips. The music still poured through her omni tool.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**: Hello my fellow ME fans. Just got finished with Chapter 3, man I'm having fun with this one. I will be starting on chapter 4 tonight. There is some cursing so keep that in mind. I appologize if I mispelled any of the crazy names from the ME franchise. This chapter is long and it jumps around a bit so...**Enjoy**!

* * *

Three

Shepard stared absently into her omni tool before deciding to send Garrus a message. Her mind still traced the moments of that knight like her finger traced his mandibles so many times after. She sent him a quick note before rising from her comfort with the intent of hitting the shower. The holo numbers on her clock read 06:30. Figuring Garrus was either still sleep or showering as well.

She and her crew had partied hard last night in Purgatory, the baddest club on the Citadel. Thanks to her cybernetic implants, Shepard was able to drink most everyone under the table. Asari, human, turian, definitely quarian, and most vorcha were no match for Shepard's insatiable appetite for alcohol. Shepard had gotten so drunk that she had to be carried back to the ship. Garrus, Tali, and Ashley stayed.

After a hot shower and some clean clothes, Shepard made her way to the Mess Hall. Her thin red dreads were secured in a ponytail with a single dread hanging in front of her face. Her body was dressed in a simple Alliance issued shirt and pants. She checked her omni tool in the elevator. No reply from Garrus. Shepard figured that if he hadn't awoken when she did, then he was awake now and taking a shower. The crew was still on shore leave, but her main crew members had returned for various reasons. Dr. Liara T'soni's network of contacts was on the ship. That was plenty of reason for her to remain onboard.

Dr. Chakwas was glued to pilot, Joker Jeff Moreau, because of his vrolic syndrome; and he hardly ever left the ship. The Normandy was his baby, and EDI, the ships AI was his girlfriend. She had manifested herself into the platform of a former Cerberus AI.

Garrus also found home on the ship, constantly calibrating the Normandy's weapons systems. If Shepard had a credit for every time Garrus calibrated the guns, she would be able to buy the entire Alliance military.

Shepard's eyes fell on the large open space that was the Mess Hall. She was expecting to see Garrus, and Dr. Chakwas, possibly even Liara but instead she just saw Liara and Specialist Traynor. There were a few guards but they looked as if they were getting up. They stood up, saluted the commanding officer as she passed.

"At ease, gentlemen." Shepard said calmly.

She grabbed a bowl full of oatmeal and some other military rations before taking a seat across from Liara and Traynor.

"Good morning Shepard." Liara sang as she scooped up another helping of oatmeal in her spoon.

"Morning Liara, and Traynor." Shepard tipped her head. "You guys didn't drink too much did'ya?"

Traynor had one hand over her forehead. Some of her silky brunette hair laced her face. "Ug," was the only sound that escaped her mouth.

"Samantha, what's wrong?" Shepard swept the comm specialist with concerned eyes.

"Hangover." Liara replied. The laughter from within her poured out onto some of her words.

Shepard smiled as she shifted in her seat. "Was it that Asari Rum?"

Samantha shook her sorry head up and down, replacing one hand on her forehead with another.

"I told'ya not to do it." Shepard shook her head.

"Never again, Commander." Samantha moaned.

Liara drew Shepard into a deep conversation about her home world and the reconstruction of the new relays. By the time Shepard had finished her meal, her omni tool had went off. It was Admiral Hackett. He requested her presence at the Citadel Tower as soon as possible.

"Shoot," Looking at her omni tool, "Admiral Hackett and the council wants to see me."

She got up from her seat. "I gotta go."

Liara's eyes widened. "Perhaps it's about the relays?"

"What else could it be?" Shepard replied rhetorically. She was just as dedicated to building new relays as every other alien species was. She had promised that Liara, Garrus, Tali, and Wrex, would see their homes again. Just like when she promised to put a boot of Saren's ass when he went rogue, and when she promised to cure the genophage; Shepard kept her promises.

Shepard cleaned up her area before taking her leave. Liara had offered to go with her, but Shepard opted against it. It was her shore leave, and even if the commander didn't get to enjoy every minute of it without interruption, she didn't want her crew members in her same predicament.

She reassured Liara as she left the ship dressed in her officer uniform. As she stood in the elevator of the Docking Bay, she checked her omni tool for a response from Garrus… _Nothing_! It was 010:25 by this time. Garrus had to have been up by now. Shepard called Liara.

"Yes Shepard?" Her voice spoke angelically on the screen.

"Could you check on Garrus. He's not answering my messages." Shepard couldn't hide the tinge of worry in her voice.

"Sure thing, Shepard."

"Thank you… He's probably taking a cold shower trying to wash away that hangover." Shepard joked in an attempt to mask her slight concern.

Shepard got off the elevator. She took a transit to the Tower. On the way she received a message from Liara.

**Liara**: Garrus is not in his room. His sniper rifle is also gone.

Shepard's brow furrowed. Her apprehension settled on her chest. _He's probably shopping for more mods_? Knowing that Garrus had his weapon with him calmed her nerves a bit, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

* * *

"The second relay needs to be built in the Pranas system." Dalatrass Linron stated, slamming her spindly hands down on the table.

The Turian council member, Sparatus, shook his head. His arms were wrapped tightly around his chest. He sat back in his chair, disconnected from most of the salarian representative's spiel.

"Palaven got hit just as hard as Thessia… I think the second relay should be posted in either one of those systems, so that we can rebuild."

Urdnot Wrex, clan leader of Tuchunka-krogan home world, butted in. "The relay should be put in our system. With all the catching up that we need to do… We'll have plenty of workers to help you guys rebuild." His jagged voice was etched with sympathy.

"Hmf!" the Dalatrass spat. "The last thing I want is a bunch of brutes dirtying up my planet!"

"I wasn't talking to you, bitch!" Wrex replied in a snide manner.

The Dalatrass' jaw dropped. Shepard was sitting next to Wrex. She placed a relaxed hand on her friends forearm, gesturing him to calm down.

Admiral Hackett stood at the far end of the elongated table. "Now there's no need for name calling, I understand that everyone is frustrated right now…"

"That is a blatant understatement." Dalatrass ranted. Her eyes were icy as she eyed Commander Shepard and Wrex. "You're commander," addressing Shepard, "Failed us all-"

"Shepard is a hero!" Wrex roared in Shepard's defense as he shot up from his seat. The chair slid furiously behind him. "If it weren't for her, you and your weak kind would be not even a memory!"

"I had no choice but to destroy the relays. The Reapers were using them, or did your short life span cause you to forget, you bitch!" Shepard hissed grazing the Dalatrass' nerve.

The Dalatrass had always believed that the brilliant minds of her people would've have aided in the construction of the Crucible; getting it up and running faster. She went for Shepard's integrity; turning to the krogan in the moment of desperation was going to have long and dire consequences in the Dalatrass' eyes.

"Had you done what I asked of you then we wouldn't be here, in _this_ predicament. Sur'kesh has the best scientist-"

"That's all fine n' dandy, but your home world didn't get hit as hard as ours." Shepard spoke of the turian, krogan, human, and asari controlled systems. Everyone excluding the Dalatrass nodded their heads with heavy dismay.

"That's because we salarians were smart enough to keep a low profile. We're not like you humans…" The Dalatrass looked away from Shepard and Wrex. "You came into the galaxy like, 'Look at me! Look at me!' demanding a seat on the council like you guys owned the place." Her tone was condescending.

"So let'me get this straight… You don't like us because we're ambitious, or because I didn't sabotage the cure?" Shepard spoke of humanity in general with the head of her statement.

Wrex let out a monstrous growl as he paced the floor closest to Shepard.

"Linron!" Councilor Sparatus barked with shock. He exchanged his solid composure for a troubled one, sweeping the Dalatrass with his eyes.

She folded her arms offering a pathetic excuse for her actions. "The Krogan were not ready for a cure."

"Bullshit, Dalatrass." Shepard yelled, banging her fist down on the table.

"Shepard!" Hackett attempted to intervene.

"It was the krogan who defeated the rachni. It was a krogan that helped me to take down your precious-spectre-poster-boy, who'd gone rogue and killed thousands of people-"

"Shepard!" Hackett continued.

"It was krogan who helped me to defeat a Reaper on foot. It was krogan who went to Menae to by Palaven enough time to secure their citizens-"

"Shepard!" Hackett spoke louder and firmer.

"It was krogan who volunteered to come to Earth and help us fight… Not salarian… krogan!"

"And a pitty they did," the Dalatrass fired back as Shepard rose from her seat. "The galaxy would be a much better place without your kind… Hotheaded and ignorant!" she fanned her hand at Shepard as if she were shooing away a pesky varren pup.

"Ignorant!" Shepard pointed her finger at the female salarian. "You want to wipe out an entire race based solely on some prehistoric notions-" Flames laced her tone as blue biotic energy surged from beneath her skin.

Shepard hit a nerve when she degraded the salarian's anthropology of krogan. "Statistics that accurately depict the krogan mentality derived from countless years of research-"

"Scared, ignorant people who'd rather wipe out an entire race instead of trying to learn and understand-"

"We tried!" the Dalatrass snapped. Shepard tossed her chair to the side, moving toward the Dalatrass. Hackett and Sparatus approached Shepard in an attempt to intercept any kind of hostile act she might be considering.

She was close enough to the Dalatrass to smell her. Her scent was of a funeral home or an empty building; bland and uneventful. "I don't know whose worse, the Reapers, or people who think like you!"

She then stormed out of the room with Hackett and Wrex following her lead. The asari councilor stayed silent, but her face was etched in disappointment in the Dalatrass' heartless rant. Plus, Shepard's diminished composure didn't help the situation either.

Councilor Sparatus eyed the Dalatrass in the now quieted space. "You disgust me." He boldly stated before taking his leave.

"Councilor!" the asari councilor yelped; shocked that such words would leave his mouth.

"You have some nerve Councilor," the Dalatrass yelled as Sparatus trudged down the hallway. "Your kind and mine both agreed on the genophage!"

* * *

Shepard was at the Presidium drinking some asari brand of tea while her nerves settled. The café in which she lounged overlooked the Presidium's immaculate ecosystem. She drove through her frustrations with Tali in the passenger seat.

"Can you believe what that bitch said to me?" Shepard hissed as she eyed her steaming cup of tea.

"No… Keelah, are you alright?" the female quarian replied with a youthful, soft, and mechanically toned voice.

Shepard banged her hand on the glass table, ignoring the question completely. "Man, I wanted to slug that fly-eating bitch in the face so bad!"

Tali didn't like when her commander lost her cool. Naturally she tried to lighten the situation. "We all drank a lot last night…!"

A smile grew on Shepard's face, not remembering everything that had happened. "Yeah."

"Especially Garrus. I'd never seen him get so drunk before-"

"Garrus!" Shepard replied remembering that she hadn't seen him since she left Club Purgatory last night. "What time did he leave the Club?"

Tali's smirked through her mask as an image of a drunken Garrus fist-pumping on the dance floor filled her head. "I don't know when he left the club…" she began to chuckle, "He was dancing like a raging lunatic-"

"So you didn't see him leave?" Shepard expressed with excitement and apprehension.

"No," Tali thought for a moment. "I remember him saying something about… VIP!"

Shepard checked the messages on her omni tool. Still there was nothing from Garrus. Her heart sank into her stomach. She breathed heavier than before.

"Tali, I haven't seen Garrus since last night, and he's not responding to any of my messages."

Tali stiffened in her chair. "Keelah, you don't think… something's… something's happen-"

Shepard cut her off. "Let's go."

"Right behind you, Shepard!" unsure of where they were going.

Shepard and Tali made their way to Club Purgatory. The main part was closed but the bar was open. Shepard went straight to the bar speaking with the bar tender about Garrus's whereabouts. She didn't expect the salarian to remember everyone's face, but he was somewhat of a  
celebrity.

The bar tender shook his head. Shepard moved on to various dancers and servers. They too seemed to know nothing of the turian, blowing her off. Shepard was not about to give up. Annoyed with everyone's brusque manner, she whipped out her pistol and let off a few rounds in the ceiling. People screamed as they hit the floor. The music stopped abruptly.

"Now that I have everyone's undivided attention…" Shepard held up the holographic image of Garrus for everyone to see. "A turian by the name of Garrus Vakarian was here last night. This is his pic." She let the frightened crowed soak in his image. "Does anyone remember seeing him?" The people were silent.

Tali was standing off in the distance. She shouldn't have been surprised by Shepard's renegade demeanor.

A turian was standing behind Tali. He inched closer to her hooded head. "Spzzt, Don't turn around. I saw your friend being led down to VIP by an asari stripper by the name of Sultry." He spoke in a whisper.

"What!" Tali uttered. She turned around but the turian had already retreated to a back room. Tali ran up to Shepard.

"Now I know that somebody here saw this turian—"

Tali grabbed Shepard's arm. "Let's go Shepard!"

She pulled back, "What… No, I want to ask these good people where my friend is, and if they don't start talking…" Her voice grew louder as if it were an incoming missile. "I'ma start slicing off some limbs with my omni blade!" she yelled.

Tali pulled Shepard off to the side. "He was seen with an asari stripper named Sultry in the VIP room."

Shepard took a deep breath as the wave of anger attempted to consume her. She flexed a neck muscle before returning to the crowd. "Anybody go by the name of Sultry?" Some of the audience gasped while others looked in seemingly one direction. "An asari stripper named Sultry!" she continued.

Shepard made her way through the narrow winding path of the club. She was not careful about stepping over peoples fingers. She followed the looks which seemed to highlight a violet colored asari with bright purple markings around her tentacle-hair line. Her eyes locked on the asari as her movements grew into a panic.

"Shit," the asari whispered as Shepard and Tali closed in on her position.

The asari shot up and took off running. Shepard was right behind her. She ran into a back room slamming the door shut and locking it. The room led to the kitchen area. Shepard kicked the door open, using some of her biotics. The Door flew off its hinges, destroying some food trays that were on carts. The asari ran toward the emergency exit but slipped on cooking grease and fell to the floor.

She went to get up but felt her body being yanked up by the back of her shirt. Then she was thrown against a metal counter. Food trays and various cooking utensils went flying off the shelf.

"Uh!" the asari gasped. Then her body was thrown into the stove. Her body made a dent with the hallowed metal, knocking the wind out of her. She coughed profusely. The stripper struggled to get up.

Shepard yanked her up by her tentacles. She held her head forcefully over a pot of boiling water. "Now you're gonna tell me what happened to my friend, or I'm gonna turn your head into a world famous calamari dish!"

"Shit…" She gasped desperately trying to regain her strength. "I don't know… Please!"

Shepard moved her head away from the heat in order to knee her in the face. Purple blood coated her knee as she brought the asari's head back over the pot. "Guess you won't be earn'n any tips tonight!" she scoffed. "Now tell me what happened to Garrus!"

"A human paid me to lure him down to the VIP!" Sultry cried. "That's all I did, I swear on the Goddess!" She began to sob.

Shepard held her over the raging heat for another moment. The she threw her to the ground. "Is that it?" Her tone was as dark as a Reaper's metal flesh.

Sultry turned on her back. Her face was covered in purple blood. "No," she continued, "After I lured him down there, they told me to leave…"

Shepard ripped out her gun and pointed it at the asari. She flashed her hands in a fearful surrender. "They _who_?"

"I don't know who they all were, but I recognized one of the men… Jennix! He's one of my regulars; a batarian!"

Shepard pulled out the clip in a taunting manner. It was nearly full. The asari's eyes grew even wider. Shepard popped the clip back in the gun.

"I left the room, closing the door, but not all the way!"

"What did you see?" Shepard demanded connecting the dots.

"I peeked through the crack and saw several men jump your turian. Then they took him out the back door."

Shepard seemed to die a little inside as the scenario of Sultry's words played in her head like a bad dream. Her features softened for a moment, breaking eye contact with her victim.

"That's all I know, I swear!" Sultry pleaded.

Shepard put her gun back in its slot. "Where's the VIP room?" The asari shot up from her position clumsily with fear. She led her to the private room where no apparent evidence of a struggle revealed itself. Sultry stood off in the distance afraid to move. She rubbed her aching shoulder as a cold shiver ran down her back. Tali kept an eye on the stripper just in case she was thinking of making a run for it.

After several long minutes of detective work, Shepard pierced the silence saying, "All right Sultry, piss off!"

"Thank you!" she uttered as she darted from the scene.

Shepard went out the back door, Tali followed her close behind. She analyzed the deserted ally finding only her dog tags. Shepard had given him her dog tags when they first started dating. He had never taken them off. She clinched her hand as tightly as she could with the sudden realization that her worst fears had come true: The man she loved was gone!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**: There's a lot of movement in this chapter. If you've figured out what's happened to Garrus then you're awesome! Writing this chapter was somewhat easy for me. Feel free to leave any reviews; likes, dislikes and thank you for reading, as always... **Enjoy**!

* * *

Four

Garrus awoke to excruciating pain stabbing all over his beaten form. He gasped for air as if he had died moments ago only to return to the living. Sounds were loud in his ears, louder than the norm for turian senses. He could hear muffled conversations outside of the dark space he'd been bound to. He went to move, noticing his arms and legs were still bound by what smelled of metal. Every move sent a throbbing pain throughout his body like nothing he had ever felt before.

His senses picked up on two distinguished voices nearing the closed door. Their voices, one male and one female, seemed to rip through the walls as they kicked the door open. Dim light cascaded into the room where Garrus was bound. The two humans entered the room, one after the other. The female immediately began digging through various drawers in the dresser that sat opposite of the bed. The man went over to the bed.

"Holy shit there's a turian tied to the bed!"

Their pulses beat against his head like the battle drums of ancient turian military. The woman dashed over to the bed, dropping the bits of paper and crap she found. She nearly fell on the bed next to Garrus. She was disheveled and skinny with dirty clothes that blanketed her body. The man was of similar character.

"Help… me…!" Garrus could barely form words. His eyes were dark as if the life had been drained from him. The bare mattress was stained with blue turian blood.

"Let's see if he's got anything." The woman replied, ravaging his pockets.

The man seemed more sympathetic toward the turian. He hesitated as the woman ran her hands all over Garrus in search of anything of value. Suddenly, a wave of strength poured over the turian causing his body to arch slowly. Every sound muffled in his ears; all except one… That sound was so loud in his head; it rivaled the burrowing sound of the Reaper ship Sovereign made.

Garrus gritted his teeth as something powerful, primitive, and unnatural took ahold of his body. He tried to fight it but he was a husk to this power. A sickening snarl escaped his sharp mouth and his arm jerked violently against the chains.

"Woah!" The man protested as he eyed the turian with fear-ridden suspicion.

Garrus fought the internal battle of control over his body, but failed miserably. The woman continued to hover over his body, checking every little pocket. Garrus jerked again, this time more violent than the last time.

"I think… we should… go!" the man uttered as he took a step back.

Garrus snarled even louder. The noise cut into his mind replacing all thoughts with a single instinct. Then it seemed to drag its invisible claws through his mind, breaking his will entirely. The pain of that sound was too much to bear. He thrashed once… then twice. The second time was harder than the last causing the chains to break. He neared the guy so fast that his surroundings were a blur as he moved. His body made contact with the man's smaller form, blacking out against the sound of a blood curdling scream.

* * *

Shepard was at Commander Bailey's office as night began to descend upon the Presidium. There was a lot of traffic that pressed in and out of the open space. Bailey was talking with a turian officer as Shepard approached him. She couldn't hide the worry in her eyes, but she was still able to flash a smile. She hadn't seen her old friend in some time.

"Shepard!" Bailey chimed, catching a glimpse of her as some officers passed.

"Commander Bailey," she approached him with muffled happiness. "It's been a long time." Shepard shook his grungy callused hand before pushing a stray dreadlock behind her ear. "Looks like you got your hands full?" She added as she released his hand.

Baily casted a frown over his worn expression. Running a hand over his bleach blond hair cut he hesitated, "Hmm… yeah, it seems like no matter what you do, sapient life will always have its violent side." He looked away for a moment, lost in his thoughts. Then he made eye contact with the human spectre again before speaking. "Anyway… I'm sorry about Admiral Anderson. He was a good man!"

Shepard bowed her head. The hurt could not be masked in her eyes. "I appreciate it Bailey." She eyed him again. "Not a day goes by when I don't think about everyone we've lost."

"Same here." There was a moment of silence between the two before Bailey spoke. "So, what brings you up here to my humble abode?" His jiving tone was an attempt to lighten the mood.

Tali was outside of his office updating Liara on the search. Once it had been established that Garrus had been abducted, Liara spent several hours rummaging through her endless network of contacts for any shred of evidence that would point her toward Garrus' whereabouts.

Shepard cut right to the chase, leading Bailey off to the side she spoke in a low but anxious tone. "A member of my crew has gone missing… Garrus Vakarian!"

"Garrus!" Bailey's eyes widened. He was good friends with most of Shepard's crew, especially Garrus.

"Yeah, he's been missing since last night, so I went to Club Purgatory to _question_ the workers."

Bailey knew Shepard's reputation well. "Question them, huh?"

Shepard shifted her weight, softening her posture for a moment. "I only used my gun once… No wait, twice!" Bailey shook his head, smiling internally. "An asari named Sultry told me that she was paid to lure him down to the VIP room. The trail ran cold in the alley where I found my dog tags."

Bailey knew that the commander and Garrus were close. Luckily Shepard was wearing her gloves when she retrieved the dog tags off the floor. "I'll have these tested for finger prints immediately." Bailey's eyes were full of conviction.

"Thanks Bailey!" Shepard replied full-heartedly.

A female officer with very short hair approached them. "Sir," she addressed Commander Bailey.

"What is it?"

She had a look of dread in her eyes as she spoke. "Another call just came in…" She eyed Commander Shepard with caution before continuing.

"She's with me, Parstien, continue." Bailey ordered.

"Several mutilated bodies in Subdivision C of the Wards." Her omni tool lit up sending the data to Bailey's omni tool.

"Ah, shit…" Bailey trailed off. He watched the video feed of the crime scene that was uploaded from the first responders. "What a mess."

"What's go'n on Bailey?" Shepard placed a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention.

He glanced at her silently before speaking, "Let's take a ride Shepard." He abruptly requested.

* * *

Shepard was in the passenger seat of the cab while Bailey sat in the driver seat. Tali was sitting in the back messaging Liara feverously.

"You said Garrus had gone missing last night?" Bailey's voice cut through the dense silence.

"Yeah… why?" Shepard asked.

"There's been a bizarre string of murders that have happened earlier today, before you showed up." Shepard shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "They happened not too far from Club Purgatory." He spoke over the hypnotic hum that emanated from the vehicle. "The victims all had one thing in common…"

"What?" Shepard asked with a sick feeling clawing her stomach. Just thinking of what might have happened to Garrus was eating her up inside. She rubbed her stomach, shifting her weight.

"They were of different races: Asari, turian, human, and vorcha…" There was a pause as Bailey read Shepard's mind. "Don't worry Commander, none of the turian bodies turned out to be Garrus. If one of them was I would've told you a long time ago."

Shepard let out a silent sigh of relief but her body was still sick with worry. "They had all suffered severe trauma to the neck and limbs. And they had been drained of their blood." Bailey continued.

"You think it's some sort of sick ritualistic killing or a rabid varren?" Shepard questioned.

"I thought that at first; both scenarios, but after initial inspection of the bite marks… The teeth patterns matched that of a turian."

"Turian!" Shepard felt her blood freeze in her veins. The feeling took her breath away. Finding her breath again she spoke. "You think this _turian_ might have something to do with Garrus' disappearance?"

Bailey glanced at her before returning his eyes to the busy atmosphere. "I sure hope not, Shepard. From the looks of the first crime scene, this turian seems rather strong and angry… Possibly a lunatic."

Tali cut in, "Maybe the ones who abducted Garrus were attacked by this turian?"

"I don't know Tali." Shepard uttered with mixed emotions of sorrow and fear.

Shepard tried not to fear the worst in any situation, but knowing that Garrus was probably hurt or dying somewhere in corner while a raging madman was on the loose, made her want to kill somebody.

"We're gonna get to the bottom of this!" Shepard hissed firmly as she checked the thermal clip of her pistol. It was a ritual for Shepard to pop her thermal clip in and out of her gun before an upcoming fight.

* * *

Arriving on the scene, there was blood thrown everywhere. The walls, floor, doors, and ceiling had tasted the bitterness of traumatic death. Five mutilated bodies sat in various parts of the area. They were within a few yards of each other. The smell of blood was heavy, and the scene was quarantined with purple holo-tape.

Several officers patrolled the scene. Their hard exteriors could not hide the grotesque looks in their eyes. The bite wounds scarring the necks of the victims screamed out at Shepard's eyes.

"Oh, keelah!" Tali uttered from within her mask.

The scene was a massacre from straight out of a horror vid. Shepard shook her head as she made her way to one of the victims. "Judging from the position of the body, it's highly probable that he was attacked from behind." She suddenly pointed down at the corpse's hand. "Looks like he was trying to activate his omni tool."

Bailey squatted down over the victim. "Call for help, maybe?"

"Or to offer the attacker some money… Heartless bastard!" Shepard ranted.

After analyzing the crime scene, their leads went cold. No one had seen anything out of the ordinary which was typical given the situation. People were still traumatized by the war. It left a lot of citizens on edge.

They returned to the crime scene to regroup. That's when Tali suddenly remembered the name Jennix. "Shepard, what about the batarian, Jennix, I believe his name was?"

The commander turned to Bailey. "You have any batarian criminals named Jennix in your archives?"

Bailey moaned. Rubbing the back of his neck he replied, "Shepard, a lot of our criminal files were wiped out during the Reaper War." His eyes held an apology.

"Not a problem." She radioed Liara.

"Shepard?"

"Liara, do you have any information on a batarian thug named Jennix?"

"Do you have a last name?"

"Negative, but if C-Sec and the council's been do'n their job then he should be registered with the Citadel."

"Don't worry, Shepard… I'm a very good information broker!" she sang.

Ten minutes later Liara messaged Shepard. Since the majority of the batarian community moved back to their own system which was then attacked by the Reapers; the batarian people had become an endangered species. Even if Jennix was incognito, she had access to various DNA scanners on the station.

Liara called Shepard before forwarding her results. "Shepard, I've just forwarded all of Jennix's files to you, and Feron and I are coming to aid in the search."

Shepard pulled up another screen to review Liara's findings. "Damn, you're good Liara… Glad you're on our side!"

"I'm a very good information broker."

"See ya soon Liara, Shepard out!"

* * *

Jennix's real name was Wheg Tiggly. His body was sinking down in a plush couch as his eyes swam along the curves of two asari strippers. Smoke filled the apartment while empty tubes of hallex cursed the wooden coffee table. He had his feet propped up on the table, fighting the urge of sleep.

"Yeah…" Jennix uttered in a drunken haze, "Work that ass!"

BAM! The door flew open wildly with pieces of the lock flying a short distance away.

"What the…?" Before Jennix could gather his senses, he was hit with a biotic blast that sent him and the couch flying across the room. The strippers were able to dive out of the way. They screamed in unison as Shepard, Tali, Liara, and several C-Sec officers bum-rushed the place.

Shepard pounced on Jennix while he tried to reach for his assault rifle. It was pinned under the couch, like most of his body. Using her biotics, she threw the furniture against the wall. Then, grabbing up the batarian, he swung his fist at her head. Shepard was expecting that and dodged the attack accordingly. She dodged his second fist which launched at her clumsily. Shepard continued dodging his attacks for a few moments more before going on the offense. Grabbing one arm in a fluid motion, she twisted it and shot him in the face with a high-kick. Jennix was stunned for a moment before she took him down by twisting his arm into a submissive hold. His body fell into the desired position; down on his knees with one arm forced to support his weight.

Breathing with rage Shepard spoke. "Okay Jennix, or should I call you Wheg Tiggly…? I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and if I don't like what I'm hear'n, I'm gonna break every bone in your wrist…" She twisted his wrist even harder causing him to cry out in pain. "Then I'm gonna move to your arm. And if I still think you're lying to me, I'm gonna continue to break every fuck'n bone in your body!"

"Oh shit… Oh shit!" the batarian hyperventilated.

"Now, a little birdy told me that you abducted a turian named Garrus Vakarian in the VIP room of Purgatory last night?" She began.

"Am I right?"

"Bitch, I don't know what you're talk'n about." The batarian hissed. Shepard smirked. In one quick motion, she snapped his wrist in several places.

"Ahhhhh!" The batarian screamed. Then Shepard launched her boot into his face several times, until the steel-toe was covered in red blood.

His position had faltered, but Shepard had a firm grip on his now broken wrist; preventing him from falling on his back. She pulled him back onto his knees.

Speaking in heavy breaths she continued, "Now, let's try that again…? You kidnapped a turian last night by the name of Garrus Vakarian, did you not?"

"Yes!" Blood screamed from his face along with spit as he replied.

"I wanna know who ordered you to do it and why?"

"I-I can't… say!" he pleaded in his response.

"Then, _I'm-I'm_ gonna have to break your arm!" she mocked his stuttering. She twisted his arm, snapping the bone harshly.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Shepard silenced him by kicking him in the face several more times. She refused to release his arm; pulling him back to her she spat, "Who ordered the kidnap and why?"

He breathed heavily, gritting his teeth in pain as tears rushed from his four eyes. "Please… She'll kill me!"

"Motherfucker, I'll kill you… It'll just take me longer, now spill it!"

He began to weep. Shepard released his arm harshly. The batarian drug himself as close to the wall as he could, holding his broken arm. Shepard activated her omni blade before charging Jennix once more.

In a crouched position Shepard barked, "Now I'm done screw'n around here, tell me what I want to know or else I'm cutting your balls off and shoving them down your fuck'n throat!" She rammed the tip of the blade under his chin, drawing blood.

"Please!" He gasped with what little energy he had left.

Shepard backhanded him in the face with the blunt side of the weapon. His head bounced against the wall. Bailey had never seen such a ruthless interrogation before and wanted to stop her, but Tali grabbed his arm, stalling his advance. Liara disconnected herself from the scene, eyeing various paintings on the walls. The other officers seemed just as squeamish as Bailey, shifting their weight and wincing every time Shepard harmed the thug.

"Answer me!" The batarian continued to sob. "Fine!" Shepard used the omni blade to cut open his pants. Holding his member in her hand she placed the blade under his testicles. "Hmf, minds well cut the whole thing off; it's not like there's much down here to miss."

Just when she began to slice, the batarian blurted out in a blood curdling scream, "Aria T'loak! It was Aria! It was Aria…!"

Shepard's eyes narrowed with anger. Aria was unexpected… After all Commander Shepard had done for her! She slowly removed her hand and the blade from his genitals. Then, without warning she stuck the tip of the blade into his shoulder.

"If you're lying, I'm coming back to finish the job!" she sang with a dark smile on her face.

He winced at the pain. After a moment she yanked it out. The orange glowing blade retracted on her hand as she got up. She left the batarian crumpled and broken on the floor with only his tears to comfort him.

* * *

Two dark beady eyes watched from the distance as an asari and a human male walked a lonely alley near the Wards. Blood soaked mandibles expanded and contracted repeatedly as his nose took in their scent. He could hear every syllable in their dialogue but it was all gibberish. The only thing he wanted to hear was the constant throbbing in his head go silent.

He walked the high metal beams of the maintenance shaft, stalking his latest victims. His moves were as stealthy as a panther. A hungry growl escaped his vocals but he was too high up for the asari and the human to hear.

"I love the asari people… I mean, you're such a beautiful race."

"Aw… Thank you!" the bright blue asari sang.

"I hope you don't mind me ordering take out for dinner?" the human's voice was full of innocence.

"Not at all."

He let out a breath of relief. "Oh, good, because I'm an awful cook." He joked.

The noise grew louder in the turian's head. He clapped his talons over his forehead in an attempt to muffle the noise that burrowed into his brain. It was no use. He whimpered as the pain ran through his mind. It was as if someone had poured acid in his head.

Anger soon set in, driving him forward. He moved in for the kill. Once the human unlocked the door to his apartment, the turian came down. Pouncing on the asari first, he tore into her back with his talons like a rabid animal.

She couldn't even scream. The human flinched at the sudden impact, turning around to see his would-be mate being torn to shreds. Red blood shot out onto his face. The asari looked up at the human with shock ridden eyes. All she could do was gurgle as the turian sank his razor sharp teeth into her neck.

The human slammed the door shut, locking it as quickly as he could. Automatic lights illuminated the space. Backing up slowly from the door, his eyes shot around the room looking for anything to barricade the door. Settling on his dinner table; he slid the table against the door first. Then he threw some chairs and boxes at the door. He breathed heavily as he moved away from the sloppily barricaded entrance.

Suddenly, he heard a bang against the door. The entire frame rattled; then another one and another. Dents began to scar the door after several bangs. The table rattled and the boxes vibrated away from the door. A snarl crept through the piercings of the metal.

The human continued to retreat slowly. Once a bluish-grey arm penetrated the door, the human grabbed a pistol off the bookshelf. The turian ravaged the rest of the door and the barricade as if he was breaking through cardboard. The human pointed the gun with one hand while retrieving his cat from its cat tower.

Then he maneuvered slowly to the opening that led to his bedroom. "Stay… right where you are… or I'll shoot!" he stumbled over his words with fear.

The turian was covered in asari blood. His clothes stuck to his sharp angled body. Blood dripped off him as if he'd been bathing in it.

"I mean it!" The human snapped. The turian stalked the human slowly. He took another step and the man shot him squarely in the chest.

The turian flinched. Frozen in his motions, he touched the wound with a bloody talon. Blood wept from the injury but there was no pain. He continued his advancement. The human shot at him again. This time he dodged the bullet with supernatural speed.

The human emptied the clip before running into the bedroom. He locked the door behind him, dropping the cat and the weapon on the floor so that he could move the bed against the door. Then he moved back as far as he could, dialing C-Sec.

"C-Sec division, please state your emergency?" a calm voice on the other end of his called replied.

"Y-yes, my girlfriend was killed by a turian n' now he's after me!"

"Okay sir, can you tell me where you are?"

He blurted out his address and then added, "Please Hurry…" His words were cut off by the sound of the door breaking. Then the turian kicked the bed away from the entrance. "Oh, God! He's in my room! Stay back… Please, stay back—Ahhhhh…!"


	5. Chapter 5

Five

Shepard and her team were making their way to Purgatory when another call came in on Bailey's omni tool. "Bailey." His voice was etched in fatigue. The thought of popping some stems invaded his head more times than he could count.

A voice painted with anxiety poured through the receiver. "Commander Bailey, a call just came in that a turian was seen murdering an asari," The female began. "Here's the coordinates."

"Okay I want the Lower Market sealed off. Tell every available officer in the area to be on their guard. Shepard and I will be there soon!" He glanced at Shepard who'd been standing near him. Her face sank with disappointment. She was looking forward to interrupting Aria's: _Don't fuck with Aria,_ spiel with a swift kick to the jaw.

They double-timed back to their vehicles. Within ten minutes they were at the Wards again; troops spread out like wildfire on the sleepy streets. Another call came in on Bailey's omni tool.

"Target was last seen in the alley leading to Cora's Den." Bailey exclaimed as he took off.

"Okay people let's move," Shepard barked.

Liara had radioed Feron. He made his way through the air ducts and maintenance shafts.

* * *

Since the Reaper attack, Cora's Den hadn't been as busy as it was. Yet, there were enough people for one to lose themself in the crowd. The music was steeped in heavy electronic tones and dark, edgy vocals that slithered through every fiber of the everyone's being.

Different colored lights chimed on and off: accenting the beat. Asari, human, and female turian strippers snaked up and down various poles like ribbon falling from the sky. Shepard was at the front entrance. A krogan bouncer eyed her disapprovingly.

"I know you're not think'n of come'n in here dressed like that?" His rusty voice stabbed into her ears.

"There's a dangerous fugitive on the run," Shepard began, "He may be seeking refuge here." Her tone was stern and insistent.

"Human, this whole district is full of would-be criminals. The only way I'm let'n you enter is if you blow me or five hundred credits." He crossed his arms over his chest glaring at her with suggestiveness in mind. Bailey had been by her side as he spoke.

Bailey was about to speak when Shepard cut him off. Shoving her pistol under his neck before the krogan could take his next breath; she spat, "How bout I blow ya with this, or my biotics?" Blue energy danced from her brown skin. "The choice is yours?"

The krogan was stunned. His breath quickened as his short stubby arms rose in a submissive gesture. Before he could even speak, several loud screams began to erupt from inside the club. Shepard darted past the bouncer along with Bailey and several other officers.

Shepard could not pinpoint the source of the screams but she knew that she was getting close. Many people barreled past her in fright. The lights continued to flicker on and off as they coincided with the music. Dancers dove off their posts, falling into the crowd. Shepard pressed forward, leaving the others as they all became separated. Her eyes darted from side to side, frantically searching through the chaos that had ensued.

"Waaah!" a turian, possibly male by the look of his attire flew across the room like a rag doll. His body collided with the thick glass that cascaded the private booths. The glass shattered in large screams of shards that rained down upon the turian. Other people ran past him as a loud distinct hiss-turn-screech sliced through the screams and cries of the many. A large dark silhouette flew up in the distance catching Shepard's eye. Liara and Tali saw it too.

"What was that," Tali screamed as she switched from her pistol to her shot gun. Battling the crowd, Shepard aimed her gun but could not get a clear shot.

"Hold your fire!" Bailey exclaimed as more of his men infiltrated the club. They followed his lead. Stopping for a moment, he brought up the schematics of the building on his omni tool. "Set a perimeter that spans from here to here." He pointed at the two areas on the hologram that sat above his omni tool. "Q'ime?"

A pale skinned turian with the upper part of his face painted in dark brown moved forward. "Sir?"

"I want you to take a group around back, seal off all the exits. That includes air ducts, maintenance shafts, everything—go!"

"Yes sir," the turian wrangled up several officers, barking orders as he did.

Most of the crowd had fled the scene. A few people hid behind knocked over tables and behind the bar. Shepard led the group: her pistol held firmly in her fierce grip. Loud feral growls seemed to blare out from every direction.

"Someone kill that music." Shepard ordered.

She rounded the cylindrical bar, stealing a peep as she moved. A female human was curled up in a ball under the counter. Her body trembled as Shepard's eyes swept over her.

"It's okay ma'am, I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy, and there's C-Sec officers. You're safe." She uttered in a cautious voice.

The girl was whimpering but she motioned from her hiding place with the same amount of caution that Shepard carried in her voice. Tali and some officers had gone around the other side of the bar. The bar was large and in the center of the club with a platform high above it for the dancers. The music and the rhythmic lights suddenly died.

"Shepard, we've got bodies over here." Tali whined.

A dead turian rested against the wall in a booth. His eyes were wide open, and the expression on his face was as if the life had been drained from his body. A faint trail of blue blood slithered from his mandible. Several V-shaped wounds tainted his upper body with three distinct scratches across one side of his face.

"Keelah," Tali prayed.

"Spirits!" another officer uttered as they eyed the body. Several more lied upon the floor in various positions of fright.

A dark blur jumped down from the ménage of steel beams, darting into the darkened hallway. Two large square containers; each on opposite sides of the entrance came crashing down. The noise startled the rest of the team. Tali and a few of the C-Sec officers took off after it.

"Over here, Shepard!"

"Tali wait," Shepard's words were cut off as Tali and some other men crawled over the junk. They ran around the bin and were swallowed up by the darkness.

Shepard was helping the woman up from the bar. She released her forearm as Bailey took over. Running toward the darkened hallway, Shepard dove over the containers. She rounded the bin to see three different doors.

"Tali, come in?" She radioed from her omni tool.

"Yes."

"Which way did you go?"

"We took the first door to the left; it's completely dark in here, so we turned on our flashlights." Tali whispered in to the receiver.

"Okay, I'm taking the middle door. Be careful."

"You too Shepard, keelah'selai."

Shepard kicked open the middle door with one foot. A dark, seemingly empty space greeted her sights. As she entered the room someone behind her flicked on the light. A gurgle bounced around the room. It was the VIP section of the club with a small party area sectioned off by thick, translucent glass. Two red loveseats that were separated by a glass coffee table were behind the large panes of glass. A small bar was a few feet behind the loveseats. There was a dead asari woman and a human man lying on the ground in pools of blood. Shepard recognized the man right away. It was Fist, the owner of the club who was supposed to deliver Tali to some of Saren's (the infamous rogue spectre) associates.

Shepard could see a large shadow cascaded against the wall, opposite of the bar. It was that of a turian. Her eyes were drawn down to two feeble legs that twitched periodically. The distinct sound of suckling or chewing was heard. Liara stood a few feet away from Shepard. Her body was glowing bright with biotic energy.

Inched behind the bar on the far left to see a turian. His face was implanted deep on the asari's neck. One hand held her head with his talons secured on the asari's skull. The other hand sat on her belly. He jerked his head violently on her neck. Blood shot out from the gaping wound.

"Alright you motherfucker, playtime's over. Drop the woman and put your hands up, now." Shepard spat.

The turian froze. Another officer hit the lights, illuminating the room completely. The turian slowly glanced up at Shepard. The gun became heavy in her hand as she gasped. The breath fled her body as if she had suddenly died. The distinct blue marking upon this turian's face, the innocent and gentle look in those avian eyes as he gazed upon the commander.

"Ga-Garrus." The words could barely leave her tongue.

Liara clapped her hands over her mouth. "Goddess."

The room was silent as more guns were aimed at him. Garrus cocked his head to the side slightly: gesturing slight confusion. His body was bathed in blood from his mouth, down. Blood dripped from his mandibles slowly as they flexed with anticipation.

Shepard shook her head not wanting to believe what she was seeing. "Garrus," she didn't know where to begin. Joy wanted to implant her heart; joy that her best friend and lover was alive, but only emptiness filled that spot in her chest.

There was a long pause before Liara's motions pierced the silence. Shepard kept her eyes on Garrus. Feeling Liara's presence and the presence of the other officers brought her mind back into the situation, instead of solely on Garrus.

"Garrus, what-what are you doing?"

Garrus broke eye contact as if he were in thought. Then he looked back at her. His prehensile tongue snaked across his lip plates slowly, lapping up the blood. Once his tongue retreated into his mouth he spoke.

"N-nothing." He looked down at the body. His face was that of a little boy who'd been caught doing something wrong but didn't understand the severity of their wrong-doing.

"Garrus, you _killed_ someone." She spoke softly; the word 'killed' hurt her chest as she said it.

"Shepard, I…" He clapped his hands over his head; pain dropped him to his knees. Garrus cringed at the pain in his head.

Shepard moved closer to him despite Liara's warning. "Garrus what's wrong?"

"It's in my head…" He hissed.

She had never seen Garrus like this. He pulled on his fringe wincing at the invisible pain.

Not sure of what to do, what to say; Shepard inched closer releasing her guard. "What's in your head?"

In the blink of an eye, Garrus was on top of her. The gun flew from Shepard's grasp as Garrus pinned her down, teeth shown in a hostile display. Saliva dripped from his mouth down on Shepard's face. She struggled like an insect on flypaper. Her heart pounded rapidly. His body was stiffer than she remembered. His grip was as cold as the atmosphere on Noveria. Despite the soulless look in his darkened eyes, Shepard tried reasoning with him. She minds well have been talking to the wall. A bullet whizzed by Garrus' head snapping his attention in the direction of the new threats.

Several peopled filled the small space, but the furniture proved to be an obstacle for the officers. Garrus leapt off of Shepard, touching the counter before diving in the crowd. He moved faster than any turian they had seen. His body was on top of another man tearing him to shreds with his talons. Blood flew on the wall next to the man he pulverized before he moved on. The group fired their weapons at Garrus, but he was just too fast.

His limbs bounced off of several surfaces before tackling two more officers. He broke one's neck instantly and then sank his razor sharp teeth into the other officer's head. Bullets ripped into his back causing him to break from his latest kill. Garrus' ultra-heightened senses caught wind of the culprits. The positions of their bodies, the added adrenalin in their blood streams, their rapid heartbeats, and the sweat beads that formed on their skin; Garrus knew it all. He dodged the incoming bullets. Instead of taking on the few remaining targets he leapt up into an air vent. Dust and shards of metal rained down upon their heads.

"Shit, he's gone through the air vent!" Shepard cried as she ran over to the gaping hole. It was hard for her to believe that someone that big could fit in a space that small.

"C'mon." Shepard ran from the room out the back exit. The noise of his large body tearing through the vent was fading.

Tali found herself in a large storage room. There were boxes everywhere causing Tali and the few officers with her to be extra vigilant.

"Ooof," Tali cursed as she stumbled over obstacles.

Shepard radioed Tali. "Tali, this it's Shepard. This may be hard to hear but…" She struggled with what she was about to say.

"The suspect is Garrus."

"What?" Tali's voice amplified in the speaker of Shepard's omni tool with shock. Just before Shepard could say more a loud noise disrupted the peace on Tali's end.

"Tali, what was that?"

Tali was looking all around the dark room with only flashlights to illuminate the area. "I'm not sure." Her words trailed off as she looked in the direction of where she thought the loud banging noise emanated from.

"Tali, come in?" Shepard continued. "Tali?"

Two beady eyes glared down on the lonely quarian. Her squad was several paces behind her, spread out. With little effort, Garrus pushed through the grate landing on the fragile woman. He sank his teeth into her but all he was able to taste was layers upon layers of clothes. He pulled back with a mouth full of fabric.

Tali screamed under his weight. Her gun was just out of arms' reach. With her radio still active, Shepard and her group could hear her cries.

"Tali!" Shepard was running down another hallway with only red emergency lights to guide her. There was a door to her left. She tried to open it but it was locked. She pulled out her pistol firing several rounds at the handle. Then she kicked the door open as hard as she could. The door flew open, sending pieces of wood and metal flying.

She charged the storage room like a raging bull. Garrus was in the center of the room, demolishing Tali's wardrobe. "Get off her Garrus, that's Tali!" Shepard went for reason instead of logic. He stopped for a second. Locking eyes with Shepard with Tali still pinned underneath him.

"Garrus, it's me, Shepard." Gingerly she approached him: each step was as light as a feather. "What's wrong with you Garrus?" He growled as if he were untangling thoughts in his mind. Several guns were one him but he was oblivious to them. "Hold your fire." Shepard ordered, gesturing with her hand.

Garrus looked as if he were going to stand up, to surrender. Instead he hurled Tali's body at the commander and Liara, ravaging two officers from behind. It happened so fast that Shepard's mind almost didn't perceive what had just happened. Garrus tore through the guts of the men spilling their intestines. Then he dove on one of the men, sinking his teeth into his arm.

A flash of light tapped into the dark atmosphere. Fading into the silhouette of a slender tall being; it was Feron. The drell kicked Garrus in his back which caused him to jerk forward. He froze. Standing up slowly with what was interpreted as rage, he turned around to eye the assailant. Another primitive growl erupted from his chest.

His mandible reflexes were not matching that of a normal turian: constantly flaring, twitching as if severely frustrated and or confused.

The officers formed a broken circle around the drell and Garrus. He swung his talons at Feron. His arms were a blur in everyone's eyes. Garrus fought like an animal. Viciously he snapped his jaws at the drell from time to time, letting an eerie scream escape his mouth. The sound didn't fit his turian frame. It was like he was possessed.

The drell could barely dodge his attacks. Taking pieces of Feron's shirt with his claws, with every other strike; but Feron's attention never faltered. He kept his eyes on the turian, his body limber like a fish in water.

Garrus had enough: his motions grew sloppier with each attack. He suddenly changed tactics, jumping quadrupedally onto someone else. As he attacked the officer the drell disappeared, reappearing near the turian. He kicked him in his side but Garrus caught his foot surprisingly. Then he pulled the drell forward causing him to fall.

Shepard winced as she shot her pistol at Garrus. She hit him several times in the back. He screeched like a turian husk or a dying varren. Turing his cold eyes to her he attacked. She continued to release several rounds into him. The other officers shot him from behind. Garrus fell at her feet. His body writhed as if in pain. He kept screeching loudly as blue turian blood ran from his mouth.

"Hold your fire, damn it!" Shepard cried. The turian continued to inch closer. "It's okay Garrus." Dropping her guard she knelt down to comfort him. He looked up past her eyes then abandoning the floor for the ceiling. His body flew up as if he had wings. "Damn it Garrus, stay down," Shepard roared as bullets met his destination.

He tried to dodge each shot but he was overwhelmed. Liara couldn't stand to see Garrus suffer any more. Her skin exploded with bright blue biotics. Sending one her most powerful abilities, a biotic flare charging in Garrus' direction.

The entire room lit up. The blast hit Garrus, vaporizing the metal beams on the ceiling. Everyone was temporarily blinded by the light except Liara. Once the light faded, black ash rained down on their heads. Assuming that Garrus was a part of that ash, Shepard held out her palm to catch the flakes.

Tears threatened to break her hard exterior as the reality set in: Garrus truly was gone for… _Forever_! He rose up from behind her grabbing her head firmly with his hands. Shepard reacted, pummeling him with her elbow. Her blows were strong enough to stun a krogan. Garrus' mouth neared her neck.

"Shoot, he's got Commander Shepard," an officer stated the obvious.

Fortunately the drell appeared behind him. Jumping on his back, he punched Garrus mercilessly in the head. Finally breaking the turian's grip, Feron resulted to spinning around. He snapped at anything his mouth neared. Shepard dropped, swiping her legs around one of Garrus' legs. He lost his balance and fell on to the drell who was on his back. The drell wrapped his arms around his neck as tightly as he could. Garrus thrashed in his grip.

"Do it, I-can't-hold on-much longer." He hissed. The turian was much larger than the feeble looking drell.

Liara neared them. This was not the turian she remembered. Cool, calm in most situations, and collected was the Garrus she was accustomed to. It was hard for her to watch this turian thrash about on the floor like an untamed animal. He growled viciously, snapping, thrashing his hands and legs.

"Now, Liara." Shepard cried. Liara held up her hand silencing him with a stasis field. Shepard crawled over to Garrus, emotionally drained. "Garrus?" She whimpered as she placed her palm over his face. The crowd of officers moved closer still taking caution. "It's gonna be okay Garrus." She spoke as soft as an angel.

"How is he still alive?" Another officer asked.

Garrus' body was riddled with bullet holes and burn marks. He didn't seem out of breath. His skin was paler than Shepard and Liara remembered. Garrus' eyes were so dark they were soulless. He lied on the hard floor gazing beyond the room.

Liara and Shepard, along with Tali and a C-Sec officer were carrying Garrus out of Cora's Den. That was where Bailey caught up with her.

"Shepard, what are you doing?"

She looked straight ahead, not making eye contact with Bailey. "Take'n him back to the ship."

"Don't you think it'll be better if he were here on the Citadel?"

Shepard stopped for a moment. "We need to figure out what we're actually dealing with here. Until we find out, I'm securing him on the ship."

Bailey wanted to object but Tali cut him off. "Shepards' right. This could be some kind of new Reaper threat, or Cerberus bioweapon…" She spoke in reference to Garrus' behavior rather than the Garrus she once knew.

"We won't know until we run test." Shepard continued. Bailey watched as they departed from the Wards. He still disagreed with Shepard but his body and mind were emotionally spent. He returned to his officers to help clean up the mess.

* * *

Garrus was strapped down on a gurney in the Med bay of the Normandy. He remained subdued under the invisible hold of the stasis field until Shepard felt comfortable enough to signal Liara. With the nod of her head, Liara disengaged the blue field. Dr. Chakwas hovered over the turian with various medical tools.

Shepard had expected Garrus to lash out but he remained still with his eyes open. His chest rose in fell with a devious intent; although it could not be read by the other people in the room. His posture was that of a worn out varren: dense eyes and slack mandibles.

It killed her to see Garrus like this. Tali was the first to take her leave. She had always been the most fragile of Shepard's crew, and not just because of her weak immune system. After Alanko died, Tali couldn't stop crying every time she passed his former cabin. When she touched a dish she would say, "LT used to eat out of a cup like this." It took her months to move on.

"Everybody out except Liara and the Doctor." Shepard ordered. Three guards grumbled as they took their leave. The door hissed shut as Shepard neared his face.

"Careful, Shepard." Dr. Chakwas warned. She was readying her tools.

"Garrus, can you hear me?"

Garrus' eyes came into focus. He raised his head in awareness. His subtle response gave her hope.

Then his mouth motioned as he tried to form words. "Sh-Shepard?"

She ran her hand along his edge of his fringe with angst. "Yeah Garrus it's me, Shepard." A tear threatened to leave her eye but she wouldn't let it.

Dr. Chakwas handed her a glass of water. "I need to treat his wounds." She said while Shepard took the cup.

"Sure." Shepard tilted the cup over Garrus' mouth plates. He instinctively sipped the liquid.

After a few swallows, violent coughs forced the water back out of his mouth. His body became tense and anxious; accompanied by heavy breathing. Shepard tried to calm him down but her efforts were fruitless.

"There must be a mistake." Liara uttered.

"What is it?" Dr. Chakwas whined as she readied a syringe.

"His vitals aren't registering on my omni tool." Liara replied. Fatigue was etched on everyone's face.

"It must be broken." Dr. Chakwas attempted to read the turian's vitals on her tool, but was receiving the same stats.

"Impossible." She motioned with her mouth. Her concentration broke against Garrus' thrashing.

His moves were more sporadic as his chest rose in fell at a faster rate. Dr. Chakwas pierced the leather skin under his forearm with the needle. After the sedative was injected, she stood back to observe its effects. Her confidence in the drug quickly waned as Garrus' motions continued. Shepard tried to comfort him again but when she neared his face he snapped his teeth viciously at her.

Dr. Chakwas have given him twice the recommended dose for his species. The drug had no effect on him. The doctor contemplated upping the dosage but quickly opted against it. Garrus continued to thrash in his restraints for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, out of the blue, Garrus' motions began to settle like a dying storm. The rage in his dark and empty eyes melted away. His strong muscular arms and legs relaxed within the metal clasps. Garrus' chest rose and fell much quieter than before. His head relaxed, falling to the side.

Shepard had been pacing back and forth, sitting in Dr. Chakwas' chair only to stand up again; all while Garrus expended whatever it was that was driving him to act in the manner he was acting.

Once he was settled, Liara finally spoke, "What-was that?"

"I'm not sure." Dr. Chakwas replied. Dr. Chakwas usually had an answer for anything medical, but this… this was insane. Fear rested on her shoulders causing her to tense up as she moved closer to Garrus. His body was like a corpse, stiff and drained of color.

"I think he passed out." Dr. Chakwas replied cautiously. "Looks like his body's taken a beating." Looking at Shepard she said, "Shepard, why don't you get some rest. I'll take it from here."

Shepard was leaning against the wall. Her mind was overcome by a drowsy haze but she fought against it. "Not a chance Doctor. Not until we figure out what's wrong with him."

"Shepard, please, you need rest." Liara expressed. Her large piercing blue eyes were begging Shepard to obey her wish. Shepard tried to avoid looking at her face. With her arms folded tightly around her chest and one foot against the wall, Shepard kept her eyes on Dr. Chakwas and Garrus. "Shepard… please."

She glanced at Liara. Her sad puppy dog face and harmonic voice destroyed the only barrier Shepard had put up. She responded by kicking off the wall, allowing the momentum to driver her forward. Then she stormed toward the door. "Fine, I'll go lay down but when I get up, we're going to pay Aria a little visit."

our document here...


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long for an update, I am in the process of moving, Yah! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Also, I would like to than everyone for their reviews; they help out a lot while I'm writing so I know if my writing is a hit or a miss. Lastly, please forgive the gramatical errors, I am barfing out chapters as I quick as I can; when I can. Thank you, love ME :)

* * *

SIX

Shepard's clock read: 06:00 as she paced back and forth. Her room was lit only by the holographic numbers on her clock and the empty fish tank. She had never been good with pets. With Kelly Chamber's death, Shepard's fish soon followed. She had been marching aimlessly for more than an hour, but it seemed like forever.

Stims were her only company, blocking her brain's sleep signals which caused the thoughts in her mind to become backed up. A clogging effect written in a drunken haze ghosted over her brain, waging war with her logic. Rage bit her form soft and hot like the intoxicating nips Garrus Vakarian had delivered to her after blowing up the collector base.

Shepard hadn't slept like she had intended. How could she? The first time she had left Garrus, he ended up a vigilante on Omega, fighting for his life. Now he's become a murdering psycho, and here she was powerless to help him. Shepard had never felt so vulnerable, so weak. Her perplexed emotions quickly melted down like molten magma into a single path: Purgatory. Aria was no longer ruling the scum of Omega, so what better place to cast a shroud of control over ignorant drunkards, desperate to drowned the horrid effects of the Reaper War in booze to dull the pain.

That was it… She couldn't stand the silence anymore. Aria's whereabouts during the daytime were infinite. Shepard was going to have to wait until the evening to deal with her. The commander's mind had been doing back flips, front flips, and double-backhand springs; tasting the many cold platters of revenge that she reserved for Aria.

The time needed to pass by quickly. Shepard stopped only as an attempt to calm her senses. Her blue biotic energy was radiating from her skin in angry flashes. Like Garrus' mandibles, she was losing control of herself, little by little. A warm shower would do her some good. Shepard's eyes planted on the opening that led to the bathroom. In a split second her clothes were off and she was adjusting the temperature of the water. She stayed in the shower for several long minutes, leading up to an hour. The very warm water ran off her skin as if they were in competition with the tears in her eyes. She refused to cry, resting her head against the wall instead. Her mind ran to memories of Garrus.

His warm skin was rugged with slick patches of armor. Bold dark eyes with an intensely blue hue stared back into her green windows to the soul, giving her strength when she needed it; courage where it faltered. Above all things, his eyes gave her love. He held her in his strapping arms, running a pleasantly rough talon along the muscled highlights of her arm.

His rustic scent consumed her, ravaging her body like he'd done so many times; not all of which were by her request. So absorbed with his scent she was that she became him; feeling his every motion of sharp, quick, predatory moves. Garrus was the most beautiful man she had ever been with, and to see him reduced to this…

Shepard slammed her hand on the button controlling the water. It cut off immediately. The weight of everything was resting on her, pulling her down like quicksand. Simultaneously she felt the walls closing in on her. She wanted to scream, to cut herself to see if she could still feel. Her world was suffocating. The thought of Aria was suffocating. She had managed to do what no Reaper, no geth, no psychopathic terrorist could: Crush the great Commander Shepard from the inside. The Reaper War had darkened Shepard's sky, Aria had darkened Shepard's entire universe.

Shepard's attention had been snatched by the soft flashing light on her terminal. While dressing her body, Shepard activated the message. It was Liara requesting her presence in the med bay.

She hurried her motions, getting dressed quickly. After popping another stimulant, Shepard darted toward the elevator. She was in the med bay shortly thereafter. Her eyes landed hard on Garrus. His body was limp and pale. Those once strong sexy mandibles were now slack, sagging as if the muscle could no longer support the weight. Garrus' chest rose and fell unevenly like a person who's life was hanging on by less than a thread.

Shepard abandoned all of her emotions except one, love. She approached him with a hundredth of a percent of caution. Just to feel him again, to tell him how much she loved him, how much she needed him… anything. She just needed him to be okay.

"Come back alive, Shepard." Those softly spoken words now haunting in her mind; they were scarier than asari husk.

Shepard swallowed Garrus' order as if it were her favorite beverage. Even inside Harbinger; its stabbing voice penetrating her mind, violating it; Garrus' words spoke louder, cut deeper, implanting itself like a butterfly on a rose. He was with her, giving her the strength to resist the indoctrination; to overcome it through love, true love. Harbinger's voice became a mere whisper, fading into nothing.

Shepard placed her hand on the side of his face. He was cold to the touch. Dr. Chakwas had tended all of his wounds. Now he lay, secured to the bed with fresh sheets dressed up to his chest.

"Hey handsome." Shepard whispered through pain. "Garrus, if you can hear me…" she bit back the tears that threatened to break her rugged exterior. "Whatever Aria did to you, I need you to fight it, Garrus. I need you… No Shepard without Vakarian remember?"

Garrus didn't respond. His breathing continued. Shepard turned toward Liara. "Anything?"

Liara's face was pale and saddened. Exhaustion painted her reality in a fog. She was trying hard not to hide her sleepy persona as she spoke. "Shepard, last night I did a ton of research and I came across this." She activated her omni tool. With her fingers gliding over the keypad, she continued, "A bizarre string of murders that happened in a facility on Mars during the First Contact War."

Shepard stood up, keeping her hand clenched around Garrus'. Liara continued. "The victims were all human and they were savagely attacked. Their bodies were riddled with turian bite marks and they were drained of their blood."

"Just like the victims on the citadel." Shepard uttered the obvious.

"Yes, it was actually a holding facility for POWs. The prisoners of war were experimented on by Cerberus operatives."

"Fucking Cerberus." Shepard spat.

"I know, the information is scattered, but according to this data, whatever Cerberus was doing to them, made them go insane. Once the war ended the facility was decommissioned. It doesn't say what happened to the turians or any of the people that worked there."

Shepard let out a weighted breath, one that seemed to be like a mountain resting on her shoulders. "First a rogue spectre, then reapers, now this… I just can't catch a break."

Specialist Traynor's voice broke the silence through the intercom. "Commander, you've got a message at your private terminal."

Shepard huffed as she rose from her seat. Her eyes were still rooted on Garrus. Reluctant to read the message for fear that it was the Dalitrass and the other council members requesting her presence; Shepard delayed with a response.

"Commander?"

Shepard glanced up. "Samantha, I told you I didn't want to be bothered by incoming messages unless it's from…"

Samantha interrupted, "Yes Commander, from Aria."

Shepard's eyes enlarged. It was a long shot, wishful thinking that Aria T'loak would have the audacity to message her. After everything the Commander had done for her. "Aria! I'll be right there."

With a hop, skip, and a jump, Shepard was at her private terminal, next to Specialist Traynor. Reading the message, Aria casually requested her presence at the tranquil Presidium Commons. The message ended with: Don't keep me waiting! Shepard tensed up before logging off.

"I need to get to Apollo's café," she uttered, barely able to keep her anger at bay.

"I'm coming with you, Shepard." Tali's mechanical voice chimed with apprehension and control.

Shepard walked past her; eyes fixed on the door to the elevator, her blood boiling in her veins.

"Shepard!" Tali called out, trying to penetrate her mental barrier. "Shepard?" Shepard was in the elevator, but she held it open for Tali; a silent approval of her company.

Tali entered with an invisible smile that was only seen in her mind. They voyaged to the Presidium Commons. It was the middle of the afternoon. There were many people out, yet the evidence of the Reaper War was still just as prevalent.

Shepard spotted Aria's blue arrogance staining the seat that was overlook the immaculate view: A sea of flowers and grass encompassing a lake. The sun's rays danced off the subtle waves. Aria glanced past the entrance of the café to meet Shepard's cold stare. Aria's gaze was that of arrogance and serenity. She sat back in her chair with a glimmer of a smile swimming at the surface of her blue orbs.

She waved her head to gesture Shepard's approach. Shepard roared past the petty obstacles of people and architecture, storming up to Aria; she seemed all pleasantries.

With a snide grin cursing her face, Shepard turned the table over before wrapping her gloved fingers around the collar of Aria T'loak. Pulling her up to eye level, Aria's guards were already on their feet but they halted any further actions by Aria's hand gestures.

"Shepard, I see you got my message." Aria sang.

"What the fuck Aria?" Aria was using a hint of her biotics to keep herself balanced and to give Shepard the false sense of control. Her sudden outburst had commanded an audience, unintentionally but Shepard didn't care.

"That's not the question you should be asking." Aria continued as if she were toying with her emotions.

"Oh, what is the question I should be asking?" Shepard tightened her grip on the fabric. Aria's eyes vaguely narrowed at the added stress.

"You should be asking the council why they haven't started building a relay to the Terminus System to deal with the second greatest threat to the galaxy."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Let me go and I'll explain."

"How 'bout I put a bullet in your knee cap?" Shepard fired back.

"Save your barbaric violence for the enemy."

"You are the enemy."

"Shepard, after all we've accomplished together…" referring to the extra troops she supplied to the commander for the war.

Shepard whipped out her M-3 Predator and pressed the cold barrel against the temple of Queen Aria's head. "Start talking bitch."

"Release me Shepard, or things could get ugly, and you'll never figure out how to save Garrus—that's what this is really about isn't it? You're turian lover."

Reluctantly, Shepard snatched her hand from Aria's collar; silently she hoped that Aria would fall but she didn't. Her biotics held her in place before gently resting her back into her seat. Shepard snaked her pistol back in its holster. Running her hands through her flaming red dreadlocks, she fought to calm herself.

"Please, sit." Aria then said. Shepard plopped down in a chair sitting across from her. Tali took a seat next to Shepard, cautiously while Aria reset the table with her glowing abilities. "I take it you already know about that secret Cerberus base on… Jupiter…?"

"Mars." Shepard spat.

"I stand corrected." The waiter placed a cup down for Aria. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Can I get you two anything?"

"No!" Shepard barked.

The waitress raised an eyebrow. Even though there was a built in kiosk in the table, _Apollo's_ _Café_ took pride in being traditional.

"Well if you need anything…"

"Piss off!" Shepard ranted.

The asari waitress walked away as fast as her toned legs would allow. She would've ran but it would've been unprofessional.

"Shepard, that's no way for a hero of billions to act."

"Drop the pleasantries and tell me what the hell is going on, T'loak?"

Aria took a slow and deliberate sip of her exotic asari tea before speaking. "You remember what I told you, the last time we were in Purgatory?"

"The last time we spoke was during the war. The crucible was nearly complete." Shepard refused to make eye contact. Instead she focused past her.

"I specifically told you not to do anything rash until we took back Omega."

Shepard locked eyes with her. "That vile wasteland…"

"Is housing the last of Cerberus and their wretched experiments." Aria interrupted. She then pulled out a data pad, tossing it toward Shepard. She caught it, skimming through its contents with little enthusiasm.

Aria sipped her tea in hidden suspense. Finally, Shepard spoke, "This is all fine and dandy, but I don't see how a few Cerberus scientists purpose to wage war against the entire galaxy?"

Aria placed her cup down with a subtle hint of nuisance. "Shepard, you of all people know what Cerberus is capable of."

"It'll take them years to raise an army large enough to even begin to be perceived as a threat…"

"Would you pull the denial out of your ass if I told you that Cerberus is building a relay, right now, as we speak?"

Shepard viciously tossed the data pad back at Aria. Aria nearly missed it. "Look bitch, I know you miss your throne; but begging with half-baited information is just pathetic." Shepard stood up. "There are more pressing issues at steak besides your precious Omega…"

"Garrus was a wakeup call Shepard." Shepard froze. "I heard it took nearly all of Bailey's men, and some of yours to take him down." Shepard's back was to Aria, she winced at the painful memories of Garrus soaked in blood, tearing innocent people to shreds.

"Just imagine, fighting a whole army of them." Aria concluded. Shepard finally turned around, meeting Aria's eyes. "We need to get to Omega, now."

As much as Shepard didn't want to admit it, Aria was right. Her work was never done. Even after the war, Shepard found herself still ending up as Aria's little bitch. "We?" she mused aloud, not wanting anything more to do with the asari.


End file.
